Tucker Carlson: Coronavirus vaccine rollout ‘feels false,’ ‘too slick’

Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday said that the coronavirus vaccine rollout “feels false” and “too slick.”

During the opening monologue on his show, Carlson said the vaccine rollout was accompanied by a marketing campaign “that you would typically associate with high-end consumer products.”

Carlson went on to note that news around the vaccine was all portrayed as “great” before noting that a health worker in Alaska experienced a rare but severe allergic reaction to the shot. That health care worker responded quickly to treatment and is reportedly doing well. 

“So how are the rest of us supposed to respond to a marketing campaign like this?” Carlson asked. “Nervously, if you’re strongly supportive of vaccines, and we are. Even if you recognize how many lives have been saved because of vaccines, and we do. It all seems a bit much, it feels false because it is, it’s too slick.”

Part 1/2: Don’t question the Coronavirus vaccine. pic.twitter.com/haEGpLusth

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) December 17, 2020

Part 2/2: Don’t question the Coronavirus vaccine. pic.twitter.com/npng6H9JdF

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) December 17, 2020

Carlson also said “our leaders” are “definitely not pro-choice” on the vaccine, noting that social media companies have begun cracking down on misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine.

He called out philanthropist Melinda Gates for a CNN interview in which she said it was important to target misinformation.

“None of this inspires confidence,” Carlson said. “Censorship will not convince a single person to take the coronavirus vaccine. In fact, it will have the opposite effect.”

“So, censorship doesn’t work,” he continued. “If you want people to take your vaccine, they must trust your vaccine. And if you want them to trust it, you have to let them speak freely about it.”

The U.S. has begun inoculating health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities with Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, following the Food and Drug Administration granting it emergency-use authorization.

The FDA is expected to authorize a second vaccine, this one from Moderna, as soon as this week, after an independent panel voted to recommend authorization.